Looking to put Big Block 454 in Chevelle and was told to look into Ls motor, I am looking for a street vehicle that I can take on road trips ar take to the strip if I wanted, Let me know the pros and the cons of either motor, thanks for the help and info.

 

Why not an LS motor with big block cubes ?
We can build anything from a 347 to a 460 with an LSx block

I wont knock a BBC but we can achieve the same thing now a days with a smaller lighter engine.

 

I know nothing about the Ls motors, are they dependable? where do the blocks and heads come from? what are the cost to put one togather with 400-450hp?

 

I had the same debate, but my goals are more 1/4 mile related. You can't go wrong with either and you can meet your hp goals easily with either choice. If you are starting from scratch the cost to build a big block is about the same as building an LS engine. Assuming you already have a BBC or SBC in the car now you can reuse a lot of the stuff you already have which saves money and makes the LS more expensive to build comparitively.

You can't beat the drivability of FI, so if you want to take road trips in your Chevelle LS is the way to go. I would look into an iron block 6.0 truck engine as a starting point for your build especially if you don't want the cost of an LSX block. Theres a lot of good info on the board to help you make the right choice.

 

heads/cam ls1 is good for 400-450 rwhp
they do make lsx 454 block

http://texas-speed.com/shop/item.asp...d=709&catid=84

if you're just shooting for 400-450.. you can get complete motor for price of block.

 

They are like any other engine and are as dependable as you make them.


A stock LS1 with a head a cam job will produce those power levels but bigger cubes makes power more easily.

For your power levels a 383 would be the way to go with a set of AFR 205's on top. You would have alomost as much tq as hp
The 383 is an LS1 block with a 4" stroke crank in it. 3.905 bore x 4" stroke. We can do a complete long block for 7k with AFR 205's on top.

http://www.ccperformanceparts.com/HKE.html

I'm re-doing the engine pages but it gives you an idea. I only offer HKE precision racing engines.

You have many many options for a build. You can find a block from a salvage yard and have it machined and built locally or you can buy one from me

Spend some time using the search button and doing some researech, plenty of info to be had here. I'll do my best to help answer your questions as well.

 

As mentioned above what is the diff between the LSX and LS, what would be the diff between Carb and FI? would it be just the MPG? I do like the clean look of an engine and not sure if I like the coil packs on the valve covers, I have seen them mounted on the fire wall or have seen some use a dist on these engines, what would the diff be?

 

The LSX is an iron block in the LS family. It would be massive over-kill for your power goals.( Cost of the block alone is not what you want)

You could do a 346-408 for decent money. If you don't have an LS1 block to start with, finding good ones is not as easy as it used to be. They haven't made them for a while.

A new 6.0 iron block is $750 and you can have a 402-408 for less than 4k if you want or we can step it up to a 418. Or find a used block and be in for even less. (salvage yard)

Many many options.

As far as Fi or carb.. thats user taste. I run both in my Camaro's. I have a 79 z28 and a 99 SS. (There are advantages to EFI no doubt)

As far as a clean look I make coil relocation kits that remove them from the valve covers and put them where ever you want. They come with custom length MSD 8.5mm Superconductor wires, we can make it as clean as you want under the engine bay.

http://estore.websitepros.com/212053...s+and+brackets

I like FI, it doesn't take much to make your old school into an FI setup you have a few different options there from going with an aftermarket engine management to an oem setup from a salvage yard.... look for a donor fbody and work the harness yourself or give Speartech a call... or if your going through me for the engine I will take are of all of that for you.

You do have many many options though as far as the engine goes, it all comes down to budget. You could do a stock bottom end with some p+p'ed 243 heads and matched cam and make the power.


Heres whats really cool though.. say your an old school buff and want a specific cubic inch for a Pontiac for example or something.. a 455 maybe? We can make what ever you want all from one block in either aluminum or iron. Want a specific cubic inch? We can make it happen real easy with an LS block. No hassle of spending hours looking for an old school bbc. With our re-sleeved LS2 series we can accomodate any build to a 460 cid and if we use an ERL superdeck 500 cid. We also have the RHS billet block for those nasty big cube builds.. endless choices !

 

I own 2 Camaros. 69 has 427 while 99 has LS1. If you are looking for a street motor that you can take a road trip in - LS series with fuel injection is in my opinion a better choice - unless you really want to go fast. The LS starts better, double the gas mileage and lots of power potential.

Downside to LS is parts in general cost more than BBC and putting into older G body will likely require a late model transmission as well as computer.

These days, I would question why you would put a 454 into your Chevelle unless you already had a core. There are a number of 540 crate motors around that go for about $10K or so. These can be very good street engines with the exception of gas mileage. Would be difficult to assemble an LS with similar power that behaves as well on street for that amount of money. Cubic inches still matter and there are a lot of very good BBC heads now on market.

 

Do you already have a BBC block or any parts? A BBC will make that power with a cam and intake swap with a set of headers.

Im not sure what your budget is, but have you seen the new FAST E-Z EFI ? You bolt it on, answer a few questions with the handheld and it tunes itself as you drive. Pretty slick, they had an article about it in Hot Rod a month or so ago and they tested it on 2 different motors (same EFI setup).

 

400-450 crank or wheel hp?

 

I have a 86 cutlass with the original 307 I just had these heads resurfaced and shaved they wear cracked but I want a bigger better running motor where can I find good cheap Pontiac 400 or and olds 400

 

Indeed. I was going to suggest an LSx 454.

 

Marchelle, like so many other newbs, you start out be reviving an old thread (10 years old!), and in your case, asking a question unrelated to the original topic.

If you're looking for a Pontiac 400, check out one of the traditional Pontiac or GTO forums, ex.: https://www.gtoforum.com/ Don't know much about Olds, but do some searching. In any case, I'm closing this one down.